Susan Njeri (left) and John Kariuki (right), parents of Boniface Kariuki, with friends and relatives at Kenyatta National Hospital on June 21, 2025.
A medical bill now exceeding Sh1 million. A barely responsive son kept alive by machines. A father swindled of Sh200,000 while clinging on to hope. An overwhelming sense of abandonment by the very governments whose agent nearly ended a son’s life.
This is the grim reality facing the family of Mr Boniface Kariuki, the young mask vendor shot at point-blank range by a police officer during protests in Nairobi on Tuesday.
The demonstration was part of a growing call for justice for Albert Ojwang, the teacher and blogger who was taken from his home in Homa Bay and killed in police custody in Nairobi two weeks ago.
Read: Albert Ojwang's father recounts last moments before ‘friendly’ DCI officers took his son from home
Boniface’s condition remains critical, according to his family. He underwent a second surgery on Thursday afternoon to address the swelling on the left side of the brain.
His condition had not improved as of Saturday.
“We have just seen him and he is in critical condition. Boniface can neither talk nor see. He only reacts to pain, like when he is pinched,” family spokesperson Emily Wanjira told the Sunday Nation on Saturday.
Face mask vendor Boniface Kariuki is rushed to hospital by protesters after he was shot by a police officer in Nairobi on June 17, 2025.
She paused often while speaking, appearing burdened by the weight of uncertainty.
Members of Boniface’s family are no longer counting days. They are counting hours and moments of breath.
“The last two days have been critical. There was a change yesterday though Boniface cannot talk. The family and friends do not expect his life to be the way it was before the shooting,” she added, her voice cracking.
Boniface was selling face masks in the City Centre when a police officer shot him in the head at close range.
The two policemen who assaulted him have been arrested and taken to court.
The National Police Service (NPS) issued a statement saying they have been interdicted. They and are being held as a case is built against them.
Boniface’s life is suspended between beeping machines and whispered prayers at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.
Doctors performed an emergency surgery on Thursday but the family remains apprehensive.
“It is the machines that are keeping him alive. We know nothing further than that,” Ms Wanjira said.
Boniface is in an open Intensive Care Unit ward with about 16 other patients. The door is guarded by KNH security.
The young man’s parents, Jonah Kariuki and Susan Njeri, say they still do not understand how he went from selling masks on the street to lying unresponsive in the ICU.
Mr Kariuki has been at the hospital daily from the time of Boniface’s admission. He waits and prays, hoping his son will wake up and call him “father” once more.
It is not just the grief that weighs heavily on this family – it’s also the burden of a medical bill that grows with every passing hour.
Family lawyer, Lucas Murage, said authorities have not offered any help to Mr Kariuki and his wife, not even a phone call.
“The government has not contacted them for assistance. The medical bill keeps rising, and we don’t know how the family will settle it,” Mr Murage told the Sunday Nation.
“Boniface has siblings too. Any assistance accorded to the family will be appreciated. We don’t have the actual medical bill yet, but preliminarily, it is around Sh1 million and still rising. Perhaps, the hospital can assist us in finding out how much it is.”
Mr Kariuki, Ms Njeri and the other family members said they are also frustrated by the silence from government institutions, especially the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the NPS.
They said no one has reached out to them despite the viral video of Bonface being assaulted by the two police officers before one of them shoots him.
“We have not been contacted by anyone even after the arraignment of the two police officers for assault. We expected the Homicide Department of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to contact us. We can’t even tell the status of the investigations or the court case,” Ms Wanjira said.
“The government has not said a word about Bonface or his family. ”
Even the family cling to hope, they have to contend with more cruelty. A “well-wisher” approached Mr Kariuki, only to disappear with Sh200,000.
“He said we would pay some amount for the bill to reduce and told me to give him Sh20,500, but the person who entered the amount sent Sh200,500. I was heading to Safaricom to seek help but was needed at the hospital,” Mr Kariuki said, adding that he has recorded a statement with police.”
As Boniface fights for his life, his family endures sleepless nights, uncertainty and silence. They came to the city hoping for justice. What they found was a hospital bed, spiralling bill and deafening silence from the state.
